One Last Chance
by HeeroYuyZ
Summary: The war has nearly been lost. The last vestiges of hope lie within the walls of Hogwarts where the surviving light population of Britain huddles in fear. The dark forces of Voldemort are gathering, preparing for the assault. There's one last chance to


One Last Chance  
  
Title: One Last Chance Genre: Action/Adventure Rating: R Summary: Seventh year. Britain has fallen. The rest of Europe is on the verge of economic collapse. America readies itself for war. A calm has settled. A dangerous calm that will not last. Hope is stirring however, in the one place left in all of Britain that is capable of it, Hogwarts.  
  
Saturday, November 16, 2003  
2:45 p.m.  
  
Harry sat outside, staring up at the blackened sky that was alive with unnatural lightning. It was a scorn, from Voldemort. It was a demoralizing view of the ultimate power that rested in Voldemort. In the first Battle of Hogwarts, he had scorched the sky, forever preventing the sun from reaching Europe again. Looking back at the castle, Harry took a breath. The once beautiful castle was now in near ruins. Gryffindor tower was collapsed, the stones that made up Hogwarts were chipped and cracking. Yet, even then, Harry could feel the magic flowing inside of Hogwarts, the essence that the Founders gave it that would live throughout eternity.  
  
A branch cracked to the left of him and flicked his wrist, his wand entering his hand from its holster and leapt to the left, landing in a crouch with his wand pointed in the direction of the noise.  
  
"Whoa there Harry, it's just me!" exclaimed Ron. "I know how you feel though mate, I'm starting to jump at my own shadow."  
  
Harry nodded, "I can't help but feel that he's going to try taking Hogwarts again. We barely won last time and now with our forces depleted we are vulnerable to attack. He has hordes upon hordes; I've seen them in my dreams. Thousands of Dementors and vampires," said Harry. "I just wish, I wish the killing would end. I've killed about a hundred men by my own hand. My hands are stained with their blood and no matter how many times I wash them I just can't get it off."  
  
Sitting down under the large tree near the lake, Ron sighed, "I know what you mean Harry, we've both used spells, but..." he stopped. "I have a nightmare every night, it's a repeat of the night that I killed that man who snuck into the tower. I killed him, with my bare hands, I felt his neck snap under the pressure I applied. And no matter how much I deny it, part of me enjoyed it. Part of me enjoyed watching the man suffer for his crimes."  
  
"I've felt the same thing Ron, a hundred times over. It makes me wonder if any of us will ever see heaven, or if we'll be joining Voldemort in Hell," said Harry. "Maybe.just maybe,"  
  
He was interrupted as Hermione ran down towards them, breathless, "It's happened. Voldemort's pressing the attack. He's five forces of considerable strength out: two to North America, one to Asia, one to Australia, and one to take out South America. Latest intelligence reports tell us that most of South America has already been taken. Australia is faring well against the force, using tactics that Voldemort was prepared for. Asia has already beaten the attack force, using sheer numbers to overwhelm it, but they suffered around a tallied fifty million casualties.  
  
"North America.they're in a middle spot right now. With two forces, they're having a lot of trouble repelling them, but since the President announced to Muggle that magic was real, they've had incredible leaps in fighting. You'd be amazed what damage a simple six-shot can do when enhanced with magic. There's one last thing though, and I think it'd be safer to talk during the meeting, it's not safe out here."  
  
Ron and Harry nodded and the three headed up towards Hogwarts.  
  
~  
  
Saturday, November 16, 2003  
3:25 p.m.  
  
In the extremely enlarged Great Hall, just about every surviving soul in Britain above the age of 16 sat. At the back of the room on a high table sat Dumbledore and the main people of the Order of the Phoenix. To Harry, he no longer looked like an infallible deity of great power, but rather a tired old man fighting a war he never wished to fight again.  
  
As things quieted down, Dumbledore stood, calling the attention of everyone in the room to him.  
  
"I welcome you fellow brothers and sisters to this meeting, a meeting which I am sad to say may be our last," he said. "Reports from our spies have informed us that Voldemort will be attacking us within the next 3 days. Battle plans have been stolen and our most competent strategists are being called in to look over them. However, we have to face the facts. We have around seven million people in Hogwarts. Around one million are too young to fight, and another four million are sick and injured. Voldemort, is sending a force of about twenty three million to attack us.  
  
"It seems that Voldemort has been busy gathering power. I am sad to say that people from all over the globe have gathered to him in search of power or some other selfish whim. Not only that, but the breeding of Dark creatures has gone completely uncontrolled and now we face a force comprised of only 12 million humans, the rest, all creatures. 3 million of these are Dementors, another 1 million are vampires. The other 7 million are comprised of Werewolves, snakes, chimeras, manticores, and other dark creatures. An even more terrifying thought, Voldemort has enlisted the help of Flameweavers."  
  
People around the room gasped. Harry grimaced at the thought, Flameweavers were elemental wizards that had been consumed by the element of fire. To kill a Flameweaver was damned near impossible because it was made of fire and controlled fire. However, the worst part of it, was when you did manage to kill one, its powers would go off uncontrolled and cause massive damage. All in all, Harry was pretty sure they were fucked. However, Dumbledore continued.  
  
"I say this not to frighten you, but to prepare you. Go, train, sleep, spend these last precious moments with those you love for I fear that these may be the last," said Dumbledore.  
  
As he finished, he collapsed onto his chair, exhausted and weeping. Harry looked over at Hermione and Ron. They all nodded. It was time to go help. The three set off towards the Battle Room knowing that they probably wouldn't be alive at the end of the next three days.  
  
~  
  
Saturday, November 16, 2003  
4:10 p.m.  
  
As soon as they entered, they were greeted by the shouting of people in a hurry. A disgruntled Remus Lupin saw them and walked up.  
  
"How is everything going?" inquired Harry.  
  
"Not good, me and the other strategists are working on how to stop his attack but it's unlike anything we've ever seen before. He's divided his force into waves and groups. And he's taking advantage of Hogwarts' main weakness, its drainage system," replied Remus.  
  
"Have you thought of a series of charms and traps? We might not kill all of them, but we could most likely do enough damage so that those inside can ward off the attack," said Ron.  
  
Harry and Hermione left the two as they got into a detailed discussion about tactics. They made their way over to the specialist area where a team of researchers were desperately trying to find something to kill magical beasts easier. One of them, someone Harry didn't recognize came running up.  
  
"Harry! We made this especially for you. Once we learned that your Patronus could kill Dementors, we had to figure out how to make more of them. Use this ring when you cast the Patronus Charm and at least 15 Patroni will appear instead of one. Now Hermione, could you help us with this spell we're trying to make, it's a version of the Lumos spell except that it's more powerful and is strong enough to kill vampires. However whenever someone tries to use it, their wand explodes after casting it," the person said.  
  
Harry left as Hermione and the person began to discuss solutions. He felt a little useless. He had no specialized area into which he could help, he was a warrior, a damned good one, but still just a warrior. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he decided if he was going to fight, he might as well be prepared. Picking up a couple of potions and his weapons, he went to the library and studied every possible combat spell he could before he fell asleep, face first in a book.  
  
~  
  
Sunday, November 17, 2003  
5:30 a.m.  
  
An explosion rocked Hogwarts, awakening Harry from his slumber. These last few years had done him well and he was fully awake instantly. Drawing his wand and his magically enhanced Baretta, he peered around the corner. Smoke poured out of a hole in the wall, and a single Flameweaver entered into the hall. It stopped suddenly and looked over past Harry before a menacing grin appeared on its face. Harry followed its gaze and saw Tonks standing there, dumbfounded. The Flameweaver began gathering its power and acting on instinct, Harry rushed out, knocking Tonks to the ground before he was engulfed in flames.  
  
"HARRY!" screamed Tonks.  
  
~  
  
Burning. It was an interesting sensation. He could feel as blisters popped up on his skin only to be squished back down by the force of the fire. He felt his skin melting and bubbling. As his mind began to succumb to the pain, he dimly viewed Tonks trying to fight off the Flameweaver. He felt as his own heart began to slow and he desperately reached out, trying to help Tonks, even as he was dying. He felt his heart beat once, twice, no more.  
  
~  
  
Tonks watched in horror as Harry's body fell to the floor motionless. A feeling of utter terror passed through her, squelching any rage left in her body. Harry, the savior of the wizarding world, the person she had crushed on for two years, dead. A blast of fire skimmed her side, spinning her around like a top and sending her on to her butt. As the Flameweaver drew closer she heard something, just a whisper.  
  
"No."  
  
Confused, she looked around and spotted Harry's body, glowing with power.  
  
"No!"  
  
"NO."  
  
"NO!!!!" he screamed.  
  
The power surrounding Harry pooled and he stood up, the burns disappearing, all damage done was repaired.  
  
"NOT YET!" he yelled.  
  
Holding up his hand, twenty five strands of energy came out form his hand, entrapping the Flameweaver, condensing its body into a small ball before they solidified into diamond. The diamond ball dropped to the floor, rolling to a halt at Tonks' feet.  
  
Picking it up she ran towards Harry who was wobbling, unable to stand up of his own power.  
  
"Well, that was fun," Harry said, and fainted dead away. 


End file.
